The present invention relates to the plugging of leakage holes in tanks, bulkheads, boat hulls and the like.
Damage control techniques presently available for plugging leakage openings in the walls of enclosures such as tanks, bins and pipes involve use of hammered plugs, pads or sheets of plywood or the like to close off such openings. Such plugging materials are applied from the leakage downstream side so as to overcome hydrostatic or hydrodynamic pressure of a fluent type leaking substance such as fluids or liquids and granular material. It is an important object of the present invention to provide more easily applied leak plugage in a wide variety of installations.
In accordance with the present invention, leakage plugging of an opening or hole is performed by personnel utilizing a low force push applied through a rigid elongated lance to a deflated flexible plug enclosed within a streamlined cover section to facilitate guided displacement thereof through the hole from its leakage downstream end. After the deflated plug is so projected through the hole, pressurized fluid is conducted through the lance into the deflated plug causing inflation thereof and rupture of its streamlined cover section made of fragile material. The lance is then withdrawn from the downstream end of the hole to pull a portion of the inflated plug into the hole and otherwise position the plug over the hole on its upstream end. A single person may perform the foregoing hole plugging procedure by valve controlled use of fluid pressure conducted through the lance to inflate the plug which is then readily maneuvered into position by means of the lance from a location spaced from the hole on its downstream end.